Oh, the mornings. I just love them. We always have a nice breakfast and enjoy the little Coopy. We also pray, read the devotion, and spend time conversing about how we can SHINE today.
During the week, Mrs. Phillips brought Tatum to the car. Every day, she would say Tatum is truly a leader in the class. She is kind and helps. Now, the leader part can be a negative if she is doing the wrong thing. So, we talk about using this gift for good. How would Jesus act?
One of the cool things they did in the week was make a Friendship Fixer Journal.
Look at the wonderful way they work things out with each other. I also LOVE Tatum’s drawings. She captures the emotions. Being proactive…going to the friend. This is being a peacemaker.
She also had to stay home one day just because she didn’t feel well. They take her temperature when she gets to school, and it was at 99.9. This warranted her to stay home to be on the safe side. She spent the day drawing, reading, and building. My kind of day as she made the most of it!
It’s such a blessing to have her back in school. I will continue to pray for you, Tot. To be a leader, to be kind, and to be the biggest servant! I LOVE YOU!!!
Mrs. Samantha Phillips is her new teacher. She likes to call them her campers!
It was a bittersweet morning. The sweet? She’s going into a wonderful class with her friends. (most of them are returning except Charlotte (SAD FACE)). Mrs. Phillips teaches with a huge heart for Jesus and a tough fist. Cursive is part of the plan this year, and Math will be even more challenging! She stresses grammar and strong reading skills. I’m super pumped about her.
The bitter? I’ll miss the girl. Oh, will I miss her! We have been together for 5 months straight!
My honey left her a cute note on her mirror last night (she ran in my room this morning to show me and to respond with a note for him..so cute), and I had one waiting on her board.
I made her a strawberry muffin with blueberry yogurt. Yummmers!
We are ready! We went through the whole checklist. Water bottle especially since it’s 116 today! YIKES!
(She wants me to change her kiddo while she’s at school, so she’s bringing her in the car).
Time for the Coopy-hug.
Ok, Tot, we have to go! One more!
Oh, let’s just bring him.
We got there right on time for the line up. Six feet apart, they spaced out.
Here they go. (The masks will be given when they get inside). I’ll miss you sweetheart. See you soon!
When she got home, she had a note waiting for her on the chalkboard,
and we talked about her teacher, friends, class, and how it was wearing the mask.
She pulled out her assignment for the evening besides her 20 minutes of reading.
We had fun going through pics and filling the bag.
Then, the evening…oh, how fun. We surprised her with a card
and a CHOCOLATE MORSEL OF LOVE topped with enormous sweet blessings.
I think Coopy thinks it’s for him.
We love you sweet girl!!!
May you feel HIS presence with you all the time, and may you make it your best year yet.
Glass half full or glass half empty? We are a grateful family who focuses on the glass being half full. Yes, we have a healthy perspective of the C-virus, being responsible, but we chose not to let it control our emotions or our summer life.
Therefore, before Tatum returned to school, we took the opportunity at our Hay Happens meeting to review the whole summer and the good that came.
She brought her baby to join in the meeting.
Before we erased our Rock it Rocket, we snapped one more pic since tomorrow is the big day.
Ok, Coopy, are you ready? Look at his cute little “sitter.”
We spent about 30 minutes throwing out our memories. We arrived at 33 experiences!
There’s no way she can say, “Nothing,” when asked what she did this summer. I’m a firm believer in making each day count and counting our blessings each and every day. Doug and I want to not only model positivity and gratitude, but we want her to find the grateful in everything.
” Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.: James 1:17. We will look at all as a gift…each day, from HIM. (C-virus, you will not control our lives!)
Thank you for the most marvelous, memorable SUMMER, Hay family.
Tatum, I got to spend FIVE solid months with you, and it was the best of my life. WOULDN’T TRADE FOR ANYTHING. The three of us spent so much time together, and we grew immensely. My honey and I talked like never before and I RELISH every second; Tot and her daddy are closer than over. Can’t top that!
I had it all planned out; It was to be a “Rock it” into 2nd grade. She’ll be returning to school tomorrow LIVE! (masked of course).
The unveiling would take place during our brunch at 11am on Sunday.
Mom would also come over and join us. Tatum got ready with her new little bundle.
And we prepared the Rock it Rocket. You’ll notice what matters to us more her character growing more like Christ than her academics. Yes, they matter too, but if the foundation is set in HIM, the rest will follow.
Right Coopy?
Daddy adores you!
Mama showed up and of course we had to snap some pics. Look at that handsome family.
We love you!!! Look how adorable MAMA is!
Ok, brunch is ready and the unveiling occurs! YOU WILL ROCK 2nd GRADE!
I will use this little board to send a message daily.
After enjoying the yummy food, we celebrated Tot with a few presents and cards.
There is no one like you! YOU BE YOU!
I MEAN EVERY WORD.
Mama got her a cute little swimsuit for her to sport in the pool.
I wanted her to have Coopy with her all day, so why not on her ears?
The beauty of Tatum is that she knew the brunch was for her, but she made us all a card with a love note inside.
I LOVE her heart.
Tatum, you are off tomorrow! More to come later. WE LOVE YOU!!
Last week, we had a follow up with the endocrinologist upon her having her bone exam and blood test.
Dr. Sandstrom recommended she go through growth hormone treatment because her height is shown to be only 4’9″. If she has this particular treatment, she will add 3″. So, we are going to go through the preliminary testing to see if she qualifies. This means a five hour stint of IV’s and blood draws. (FASTING that is!)
We got it scheduled the Friday before school starts since it requires early morning and a whole 1/2 day. The day is here now.
We arrived at 7:45am for the 8am appt and waited a bit. Good thing Paw Patrol was playing!
She was quite nervous, but we had been preparing for the past couple days with much PRAYER> Joshua 1:9, to be exact: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Yes, Tot HE IS WITH YOU! Oh, and I’ll be right there too.. (I’m holding you tightly!)
They got her height and weight.
And then we met Kat, her nurse for the day.
She gave me a rundown of the day and the tests performed.
Then they hooked the first IV up. A little poke and then the straw goes in. Courtney came in to bring her an iPad and get her distracted. It worked (the first time!)
We are on our way. ( I think). Daddy texted us a lovely video wishing her well. My friends also texted some prayers. We read a few books, played on iPad, made a necklace. They made her a nice card. All going swimmingly the first two hours.
UNTIL…. the arginine injection was when it got a bit messy. The IV started to hurt, and the blood showed clotting. She had to remove the IV and re-insert. This occurred for about an hour poking in various places. We had to redo a few of the tests also. At one point, she felt nauseous and they wanted to give her some Zofran. It hurt too bad, and Tatum said she’d rather feel nauseous; she even threw up. We had two hours left after 1:00. We were supposed to be finish by 1, but it went slower than we had anticipated. All of us were quite hangry!
BUT, my little trooper, she pushed through for the last two tests.
Kat and Courtney were so impressed with her bravery and her kindness, they let her pick two gifts from the prize closet. TWO! She got two babies because she loves being a mommy.
On the way home she had Chik-fil-a, and she said, “I’m in heaven!”
She wanted to thank Kat and Courtney, so she made them a card. I will send it off on Monday.
In one week, we will find out about the results of the test. If she fails it, insurance covers it. For the first time I am hoping for a failing test! (not sure if I understand it all quite yet). I am just grateful for the opportunity. She learned so much today from this. She gained courage, compassion, and gratitude. So proud of you, sweet girl.
It’s been a great summer of Tatum reading books as noted in the last blog post.
She was assigned to read five books over the summer and was given a choice of books.
We picked Animal Ark series because the levels were highest. They did not disappoint.
Here are the five books she chose:
She had to complete an AR test for each. The word count for the three Animal Ark (Ben Baglio) were around 27,000 words and were 4th and 5th grade level.
She also read two more fun books.
Now for the assignment, she picked two books to report.
Beginning, Middle, End, and a pic of the ending. (100%)!!
Now the next one:
Favorite part and pic (100%)!
The other three were just read and AR tested. (90, 100, 90%s)!
She did such a great job. What fun doing this with her and organizing it! HA!
